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QUEENSBERRY RULES!
Only a few minutes’ walk from the delights of Bath’s many attractions is The Queensberry Hotel, a privately owned luxury contemporary boutique hotel in the centre of the Georgian city. City Life spent a relaxing weekend enjoying the sights and hospitality that makes Bath the most visited city after London.
Run by husband and wife, Laurence and Helen Beere, the hotel has 29 rooms, each designed with a contemporary theme. Every room is complete with flat screen televisions and DAB digital radios and CD players, whilst bathrooms are finished with luxury products from The White Company in generous 50ml bottles.
Having visited Bath on many occasions we felt that the hotel was very well positioned and we couldn’t wait to see our suite which, beautifully appointed as it was, certainly didn’t disappoint. Even though we were only ten minutes from the centre of Bath’s fantastic shopping, we hadn’t planned to go out on this day. We’d decided to indulge in a treatment at the famous Thermae Bath Spa, the only place in Britain where you can bathe in natural thermal water. Cossies donned, we made our way to the Spa and spent some time relaxing in the warm mineral-rich waters, just as the Romans did more than 2,000 years ago.
Here’s the science - The Watsu is a Zen Shiatsu massage performed in the naturally warm soothing waters. Floating in the natural thermal waters while being guided by a Watsu practictioner, (one each in our case), our bodies were stretched and strengthened whilst being supported by the water. I couldn’t believe that for a full 50 minutes I was, a) silent, b) trusting my body to a stranger to be pulled ever so gently and expertly for that length of time and c) not wanting to break into the crawl.
After this amazing experience, over a very good meal of sausage and mash and scrumptious, fresh crab cakes at the Spa’s own Springs restaurant, Mr Roberts and I reflected on our Watsu. We felt that we’d had a workout, but felt completely relaxed. Mr Roberts commented that he’d felt like he’d had an out-of-body experience which was quite surreal but thoroughly enjoyable. It was quite late when we returned to our suite and we both felt tired, contented and ready for sleep.
After a peaceful night, we made our way to breakfast and, with a full day of shopping and sightseeing ahead of us, we both decided on the full English. The bar was packed full of cereals, fruits, yoghurts, meats and cheeses which we were to sample on our second morning.
Shopping in Bath never fails to impress me. Yes, it has the shops that we find on most city centre High Street, with a few more to boot, but it’s the independent boutiques that hold and sustain my interest and I happily browsed until lunch. We fancied something a bit off the beaten track and stumbled on a fine Italian restaurant not far from the Jane Austen Centre, Fiorelli’s on Gay Street. What a find that was! Bellissimo!
We thought that our legs had nothing more to give but as I’d had my morning in the boutiques it was the turn of Mr Roberts who likes nothing more than visiting the many art galleries the City has to offer.
Then it was back to the hotel for a long, hot bath and a quick change into our glad rags for dinner at the hotel’s Olive Tree restaurant adjacent to the hotel which was superb. We dined on ham hock, foie gras and guinea fowl terrine with pickled Williams pear and slow cooked belly pork, Cornish scallops and crackling pencil to start, followed by roast monkfish, chicken wings and baby leeks and beef fillet with dauphinoise potato and crisp onion and dessert of a selection of homemade ice creams and sorbet and west country cheese plate for dessert. The kitchen brigade use the finest ingredients sourced from local farms in and around Bath, independent suppliers and reflecting the changes in season. This was certainly reflected in the taste of the dishes.
The Queensberry Hotel is a must if you visit Bath as is a treatment at the Thermae Bath Spa. Perhaps on our next visit we’ll try a different treatment, although I think it would be very difficult to top the Watsu.
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